A Southampton pensioner compared his assisted-living council block to ‘living in a prison’ after a false fire alarm blared for more than two hours with no-one coming to help.
Dennis Connell, 80, felt forced to check his neighbours were safe after the alarm went off at Rozel Court in Lordshill at midnight earlier this month.
He said: "Surely that job should be up to the council who manage the building."
After speaking with equally confused people in the courtyard, he made a beeline for a firefighter who had arrived.
"The firefighter asked me where the warden was," Dennis said.
“He seemed shocked when I said they only work until 5pm."
The firefighter said they needed the warden's keys to open the fire box and switch the alarm off.
Dennis said: "We felt like we were left by the council to fend for ourselves."
Two people from the council eventually turned up and did not know where the keys were - meaning the residents were subjected to two hours of droning noise until they were eventually found and the alarm turned off.
"We were made to suffer through the night," Dennis said, adding: “Residents here feel like we’ve been abandoned by the council - I've even been told they feel like they’re living in a prison."
Hampshire Fire Service confirmed it attended the incident at 12:09am on August 1.
A resident had mistakenly pressed the fire alarm, setting it off.
In response, a Southampton City Council spokesperson said: “Rozel Court has a fire alarm systems that, when activated, send an alert through to our 24-hour central monitoring centre who will call the emergency services.
“The alarms can only be silenced once it is confirmed that there is no immediate danger.
“We recognise that on occasions it can take some time before the alarm is de-activated and this may cause concern to residents.
“However, the safety of residents is our priority and whilst we do our utmost to minimise disturbance this is sometimes unavoidable.”
“Residents are able to press their emergency alarm if they are concerned at all, and staff are available to provide information and reassurance as appropriate.”
The council added that residents should stay in their flats during a fire.
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